Piers Morgan Takes Aim at Gun Violence on Final Show

Piers Morgan finished his hosting stint on CNN Friday night with one final shot against America's gun violence, praising the United States as a "land of opportunity" where he wants people to stay alive.

"More guns doesn't mean less crime, as the NRA repeatedly tries to tell you," Morgan railed in his last installment of his weeknight program. "It means more gun violence, more death, and more profits for the gun manufacturers."

Morgan's stance on gun control isn't anything new for the show's watchers, who dwindled in numbers in recent months, leading to CNN's decision to cancel it earlier this year.

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Fox News "Media Buzz" host Howard Kurtz said last month that Morgan "undoubtedly alienated many in the audience (and perhaps delighted others) with his crusade against guns. But when he would bring on gun advocates and rail against them as 'stupid,' well, it was hard to watch."

On his final show, Morgan didn't pull many punches when it came to talking about one of his main frustrations, especially when it comes to mass killings like the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting and the school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

"I assumed that after 70 people were shot in a movie theater and then just a few months later 20 first-graders were murdered with an assault rifle in an elementary school, that the absurd gun laws in this country would change, but nothing has happened," said Morgan. "The gun lobby in America, led by the NRA, has bullied this nation's politicians into cowardly, supine silence. Even when 20 young children are blown away in their classrooms."

"This is a shameful situation and has frankly made me angry .. . . I make no apologies for that," Morgan said.

He concluded by calling on Americans to do something about the nation's gun laws, while denying claims that his stance makes him "anti-American."

"Now it's down to you," Morgan said. "It is your country. These are your gun laws. And the senseless slaughter will only end when enough Americans stand together and cry, 'Enough!' I look forward to that day. I also look forward to seeing you all again soon."

Morgan has faced a tough battle for ratings ever since he joined CNN in 2011, succeeding longtime host Larry King in the network's vital 9 p.m. primetime spot, reports Fox News.

The former British tabloid editor came to the network after doing stints as a judge on Britain's Got Talent and its spinoff "America's Got Talent," as well as being a contestant on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."

But Morgan couldn't keep the viewers who had been watching King for decades, and has said CNN's audience did not appreciate a British host talking about American issues.

His ratings took a further nosedive as viewers turned to other news programming, including Fox's Megyn Kelly with "The Kelly File."